Mechanisms of Hamstring Injury in Professional Soccer Players: Video Analysis and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings.

Objective: To describe the injury mechanisms and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings in acute hamstring injuries of male soccer players using a systematic video analysis.

Design: Descriptive case series study of consecutive acute hamstring injuries from September 2017 to January 2022.

Setting: Two specialized sports medicine hospitals.

Fecal Microbiota Monitoring in Elite Soccer Players Along the 2019-2020 Competitive Season.

Physical exercise affects the human gut microbiota, which in turn influences athletes' performance. The current understanding of how the microbiota of professional athletes changes along with different phases of training is sparse. We aim to characterize the fecal microbiota in elite soccer players along with different phases of a competitive season using 16 S rRNA gene sequencing.

Relationship of regional and whole-body morphology to vertical jump in elite soccer players: a data-driven approach.

Background: This study aimed to analyze the relationship of regional and whole body morphology to vertical jump performance and to compare the morphological features outlining high and low performers in professional soccer players.

Methods: Twenty-one male soccer players were recruited. Whole and regional (upper and lower limbs) features were obtained in the form of body dimensional measurements.

Sarcoidosis in an athlete.

Background: Sarcoidosis is a multisystem granulomatous disorder of unknown etiology, characterized by "noncaseating granulomas" in different organs. Clinical signs are variable and dependent on the organ involved. Although it is often asymptomatic in athletes, considering the high level of athletic performance and the related risks due to the potential heart involvement, a particular diagnostic flow-chart to consider some other diagnoses is required.

Two-dimensional tracking and TDI are consistent methods for evaluating myocardial longitudinal peak strain in left and right ventricle basal segments in athletes.

Background: Myocardial contractility can be investigated using longitudinal peak strain. It can be calculated using the Doppler-derived TDI method and the non-Doppler method based on tissue tracking on B-mode images. Both are validated and show good reproducibility, but no comparative analysis of their results has yet been conducted.

The feasibility and usefulness of contrast exercise echocardiography for the assessment of left ventricular function in master athletes.

Background: The number of competitive master athletes (MA, over 40 years) has been rising. Since the incidence of coronary artery disease (CAD) is increasing in this population, cardiovascular pre-participation screening, including a maximum exercise test, is recommended. In this context the addition of contrast to echo could be useful because wall thickening and motion are better markers of myocardial function when the whole endocardial border (EB) is visible.

Microvolt T-wave alternans as predictor of electrophysiological testing results in professional competitive athletes.

Background: Several studies have confirmed the equivalence of the microvolt T-wave alternans (mTWA) and the electrophysiology (EPS) tests in cardiac disease. No data are available in populations of competitive athletes with arrhythmias that might jeopardize the pursuit of their professional career.

Methods: We prospectively studied 100 trained competitive athletes, including elite types (72/100), (mean age +/- standard deviation: 26.

ACE I/D polymorphism and cardiac adaptations in adolescent athletes.

Purpose: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to determine whether there is a correlation between left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism in adolescent athletes.

Methods: Seventy-five competitive soccer players (aged 15 +/- 1.2 yr) and 52 untrained control subjects (aged 15 +/- 1.